Robert E. Brennan released from prison/duped investors still seeking funds

Robert Brennan is back in the news this week, following the successful completion of his prison sentence. According to the AP, Brennan spent months in a Newark halfway house following his time in FCI at Fort Dix. [Note: NJ.com ran the same AP article here, which may be of use if Philly.com deactivates the Inquirer link as is its custom within a few weeks of an article’s publication.]

Importantly, the coverage also offers an update on some of the outstanding financial judgments against Brennan. I have always found this area of securities fraud enforcement fascinating – and equally frustrating – in large part because offenders very rarely compensate their victims in any meaningful way (either because the ill-gotten money has been squandered and/or successfully hidden, and/or because victims are fighting with government agencies who want their own judgments paid, and/or because lawyers fighting on behalf of duped investors are entitled to their own piece of the judgment pie). In the specific rulings against Brennan, the AParticle offers the following updates:

*Regarding a $55 million judgment against Brennan in a class-action suit brought by investors, less than half of that figure has been recovered.

*Regarding a $75 million judgment against him in a Securities and Exchange Commission case, the SEC has collected $29 million.

*Regarding a $45 million judgment against him in a New Jersey Bureau of Securities case, the state has been paid approximately $5 million. [Another article regarding this case notes that 27,000 investors/victims are eligible to file for a portion of the $5 million.]